Thursday, September 24 Cross Country runners strove to prove themselves at the first Big 8 League Meet of the year at Butterfield Park. Butterfield carried more than a few haunting memories deep within its overgrown fields, especially for the Girls JV team. Last season, due to a lack of directional markings, the majority of the Lady Sharks and their rivals took a false turn, resulting in their disqualification. This year, however, posed little threat of history repeating itself. Both the boys and girls teams had a chance to attend weekend practice at the park to familiarize them with the course, and thankfully those early morning miles paid off. Instead of running headfirst into disaster, this year runners knew exactly where they were headed.

An intense rise in temperature called for last minute adjustments for all the teams. Schools were forced to limit their number of racers for safety reasons, and instead of having separate JV and Varsity races there were only two meets: boys and girls. No matter, Santiago took the bull by the horns and managed to perform adequately despite these changes.

The racing Girls Team, composed of both varsity and JV competitors, took third overall in their meet, bested only by Martin Luther King and Roosevelt. This didn’t exactly meet the team’s expectations, but the fight was not without some victory. Rising star Cayla Etheridge (9) took third out of 77 individuals, an impressive feat to follow her first place medal from Woodbridge. Stephanie Vitello (12), only just recovered from a hip injury, was right on Etheridge’s heels and took sixth.

The Boys Team took fourth in their race behind Roosevelt, Corona, and Martin Luther King. Lead runner Kyle Pendelton (10) grabbed fifth place, just seven seconds shy of 16 minutes flat.

Obviously our Sharks had been aiming a little higher, but there are plenty of opportunities for recovery ahead.